Blood is a bodily fluid that delivers a variety of necessary substances to cells in a body including oxygen and transports metabolic waste away from the cells of the body. A blood transfusion is, in many cases, a life-saving procedure used to address trauma cases and various medical conditions, for example, to replace lost components of the blood.
Obtaining blood to perform a blood transfusion present a variety of complex issues. For instance, it is necessary to ensure proper blood type. There are thirty-three recognized human blood groups with two, i.e., ABO and the RhD antigen, determining blood type, i.e., A, B, AB, and O, with a positive “+” or − indicating RhD status. O− blood is generally compatible for use in combination with any other blood type. As a result, O− blood is often overused and in short supply.
It is also necessary to ensuring proper blood ratio. Although early transfusions used whole blood, i.e., blood having all of its components, modern transfusions commonly use only components of blood in various predetermined ratios. The components of blood include red blood cells, white blood cells, platelets, plasma, and cryoprecipitate. In a massive trauma resuscitation scenario requiring more than ten units of blood, higher ratios of fresh frozen plasma and platelets relative to packed red blood cells are delivered to a patient. Use of a lesser amount of red blood cells is associated with a lower risk of infection.
It is also necessary to ensure proper handling of blood to minimize risk of infection and timely receive blood, for example, during unscheduled massive trauma resuscitation scenarios or during scheduled surgical procedures to address a medical condition. Such handling must be carried out promptly for ideal transfusion efficacy. Platelets may only be stored for five days, and packed red blood cells are typically stored for only forty-two days in a refrigerated state versus a frozen state using a first-in first-out inventory management system.
Thus, when there is a demand for blood, whether scheduled or unscheduled, it is desirable that an administrator be able to quickly identify one or more blood units to meet the demand in view of ideal blood ratio, ideal blood type, and ideal number of units, and expedite ordering and delivery of such to a location, e.g., a hospital of a patient, thereby minimizing risk of infection and maximizing efficacy. Conventional blood management systems are deficient in this regard. No conventional blood management system provides real-time matching of blood units or is able to categorize blood units based on components of blood, ratio, and type. Further, no conventional blood management system provides an automated combining of different blood units from different locations to meet an order placed by a user for a single use or patient. Still further, no conventional blood management system tracks geographic restraints, tracks and prices units of blood in view of demand, or tracks price tolerances, e.g., of an ordering entity or of a supplier. Rather, such conventional systems are limited to basic online order and fulfillment. For instance, U.S. patent application Ser. Nos. 12/973,511 and 14/211,417, which are incorporated by reference herein in their entireties, are generally limited to order entry and fulfillment.
Thus, there exists a need for system and method that does not suffer from the aforementioned deficiencies, satisfies the aforementioned needs, and is efficient, economical, and easy to implement and utilize.